Well, it’s been nearly 2 years since I became the senior pastor at Heather Hills Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. For most of that time, I have chosen not to blog regularly. Frankly, I needed a break from blogging. I got into blogging when it was “trendy” a few years back and really enjoyed the opportunity to interact with people I had never met from all over the country on a wide variety of subjects.

Once again, this final “official” day of the Shepherd’s Conference was a bright, sunny, and beautiful California day. The first session of the day was begun with Grace’s Sunday night worship team, which is the more contemporary styled service. They led a really wonderful medley of songs all pointing to the holiness of God: God of Wonders, Indescribable, Be Unto Your Name, Holy Holy Holy, and Refiner’s Fire. John MacArthur followed this with some biblical reflection on God’s holiness in regard to evangelism. One particular quote I wrote down was “You have an ally in the heart of every unregenerate man, that is the law of God written on the hearts of men.” (Romans 1) He then encouraged us to use the law in our soul-winning to show man his need of a Savior in relation to God’s supreme holiness. Phil Johnson, director of Grace to You, then preached from Titus 2:7-8 on “Sound Words.” Here are my notes: Continue reading →

Heather Hills Baptist Church, on the east side of Indianapolis, is seeking to add a male, full-time, associate pastor to begin as early as April 2009. Interested parties should contact the senior pastor Brian McCrorie at 317-894-7474 or can send resumes to bmccrorie (at) gmail (dot) com.

Heather Hills is an independent Baptist church in fellowship with the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches and the Crossroads Fellowship of Indiana. We are dispensational in our interpretation of Scripture, historically fundamentalist in our view of Scripture, and baptistic in our practice of Scripture within the local church. We have a strong desire to make an impact for the cause of Christ both locally and globally. We value expository preaching. We practice a blended style of worship, recognizing the importance of heritage while embracing contemporary expression, all of which is subject to the truth of Scripture and focused on the person and work of Christ. We believe that every member of Heather Hills is to be a minister, using his spiritual gifts to build up the Body of Christ.

Applicants should possess a strong desire for an equipping ministry, primarily in discipleship/spiritual development. A graduate degree is preferable along with some previous pastoral experience. Applicants must be willing to work as a part of a team and dedicated to the study of God’s Word and prayer. Those who make matters of opinion (Bible translations, musical style, etc.) a basis for fellowship need not apply.

Artistic culture is a vast expanse. Deep within its workings, it is also seamless, even in the face of vivid differences between, say, grunge rock and Renaissance motets or street rap and Milton’s poetry. It is especially important for Christians to see it this way, because this is surely the way God sees it. Just as he is no respecter of persons, so he is no respecter of styles. He does not love the Baroque artifactual signature any more than that of the South Pacific Rim. Nor would he prefer, if he were a dancer, the polka over the hora. He is Lord of diversity, Creator of the human imagination and Master of every one of its artistic ways. His lines of demarcation are based on faith or its absence, authentic worship or inauthentic worship. His call to excellence is based on how we are becoming better than we were yesterday more than how we place in a static aesthetic hierarchy. A Bach cantata is no more a musical password into his favor than a Zulu harvest song or an Indian raga. When the Scriptures call out to the nations to rejoice, they do not call for an artistic Esperanto, a colorless and hypothetical language, a test-tube Pentecost. Nor do they call out to a panel of artistic experts to determine what might please the King of kings. They call out to the many cultures to use their instruments, their tongues, their shapes, textures and gestures, their vivid twists and turns. God is happy with the plethora. He loves its faith-driven clamor and hilarious tintinnabulation. It comes to him from everywhere and from all times, translated into eternal speech by the blessed Paraclete, in whom groans, mutterings, silence, singing, dancing, shaping, masterpieces and pastiches make up a transfigured jubilee.

It is only a secular or paganized culture that chooses to divide people on the basis of their artistic preferences and choices. It is a spiritually connected culture that takes cultural differences, works through the tensions that they may create and comes to the blessed condition of mixing and reconciling them and of stewarding their increase and growth. It is therefore not amusing to hear about how we are to embrace the poor, eat and drink with sinners and cross racial and ethnic lines, only to find out that leadership, back home in the safety of the local fortress, is afraid to do the analogous kind of embracing when it comes to the arts and to the commingling of their styles. “Not in my style” may really and truly mean “Not my kind of people,” except when it comes time for the yearly youth group trip to Mexico or the occasional spade turnings for another habitat. Why do we go outside the church to diversify when we fail to do so within it?

If this resonates in your spirit as it does mine, buy the book. There is much, much more to glean.

In the positive column, someone watching ”Shout to the Lord” on American Idol might be led by God’s Spirit to download the song, or even to start going to church again. They might hear the Gospel and be gloriously converted, all due to hearing “Shout to the Lord” in one of the most unlikely places. For that potential, I praise and thank God.

But there’s a dark side. There’s something paradoxical about worship songs being sung on prime time TV by people who don’t know why Jesus came. Does the world see any difference between what’s taking place on American Idol and what we do on Sunday mornings? Has worship become part of the entertainment culture? It’s unsettling when Christian songs or worship leaders are acclaimed by the masses. Jesus said in Luke 6:26, “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.” He also said, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Mt. 15:8). Both verses temper my unbridled enthusiasm.

So I had two more thoughts. First, we need to do everything we can to sing and promote songs in the church that clearly, biblically, passionately, and faithfully proclaim the one and only Savior – his work, his words, and his worthiness. Along with songs that express our love for the Savior, we need to sing songs that “teach and admonish” (Col. 3:16), that celebrate and rehearse the foundations of our faith and fill out our vague conceptions of God with clear, theologically informed biblical truths.

Second, we we need to live in such a way that it’s clear being a Christian is more than giving money to worthy causes and being emotionally moved as we sing songs of every genre together. We want to do all we can to ensure that those who walk into our meetings see clearly that we’re not a local version of American Idol.

From Josh–

As I’ve read various comments people seem to fall into two different camps. Some Christians are upset—because they left out Jesus, because non-Christians were singing a song of “praise”, because it was all about money, because it’s another example of Christianity being “censored.” Other Christians are elated—because they put Jesus back in, because a praise song was heard by millions of people, because they see this as incredible evangelistic platform.

I guess I’m not really at home with either group. With all due respect, I don’t think that having a song like Shout to the Lord sung (even though I like it) is going to usher in revival. This reminds me of the fervor before the movie The Passion of the Christ was released. People spoke about this movie as if it was the ultimate opportunity for the gospel to advance. I don’t think it was. Was I glad that it was released? Sure. But I think that it’s too easy for Christians to think that any moment in the media spotlight on TV or in film is a bigger deal than it really is. We should welcome any opportunity for media to help spread the good news about Jesus, but I don’t think we should put too much stock in that vehicle. The gospel is going to advance as it always has—steadily as it is clearly proclaimed by believers in their words and modeled by their lives and actions. The gospel advances as local congregations receive and live God’s word for their neighbors to see.

Produced by Drs. Warren Cook and Dan Forrest, of the music faculty at Bob Jones University, King of Love is a new recording under the SoundForth label featuring 14 anthems for choir & orchestra. The CD is to be released on March 19, 2008.

The compilation is a mix of old and new, familiar and fresh, prayer and praise. I have enjoyed listening through the selections several times and will make a few general observations before looking at the specific tracks. Continue reading →